By SUSAN RUMBLE

Special to The Press

At a recent Parkland School Board meeting, Ashley Muscarelle of Neffs Laurys Road reported her 11-year-old daughter barely escaped harm while boarding her school bus.

“The driver was going fast and came within inches of hitting her,” Muscarelle said.

She said the bus did not have a camera to record an image of the driver’s vehicle and license plate.

“I feel we should have cameras front and back to record everything,” Muscarelle added.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Rod Troutman commented on the matter.

“Every bus has at least four cameras,” Troutman said. “Some do not have cameras on the stop arm as of now.

“We add more every year. Sixty-five have them on the stop arm now - about 40 to 50 percent of the total.”

In another matter, several parents voiced opposition to requiring masks in school.

Christine Arroyo said her son wants to have his senior year in school with his friends but has asthma and cannot breathe well with a mask on.

“My family is my body, my choice. Stop the mask mandates and make them optional,” Arroyo said.

Justin Corsa noted his son has allergies, and his doctor says the negative health effects of masks are making his situation bad.

Jarrett Coleman stated his belief that elements of Critical Race Theory are in the district with a “desecration of history due to book selection.”

On a different topic, board member Patrick Foose asked whether the increased number of new apartment buildings has resulted in more transiency in the district.

Troutman replied transiency has increased.

“Kids come in and kids leave,” Troutman said. “They used to stay all through school. We never had this before except for parent job transfers.”

He attributed the higher number of transfers to the nature of the economy and the struggle to pay rent.

“Parkland doesn’t have a ton of affordable housing,” Troutman said. “A lot come in for short stays and move out.”

Superintendent Dr. Mark Madson provided some remarks on masks.

“We continue to look at data and review it every single day,” Madson said. “We look at it with our medical experts to make decisions.”

He noted the mask requirement is for indoors only, not for recess.

He also commented on CRT.

“I’m not sure where misinformation has come from,” Madson said.

He invited people who are concerned about CRT to come in and talk with him.